This is the ballroom of Meadow Brook Hall. The estate is favorably compared to the fictional Downton Abbey because of its style and history as the home of Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of automotive pioneer John F. Dodge and one of the worldís wealthiest women.?Photo Credit: Meadow Brook Hall

“Downton Abbey,” the British television series seen Sundays on PBS, is set in the years 1912 through (so far) 1923, and details the lives of the aristocrats and servants on and around the fictional Crawley family’s country estate.

What would be the contemporaneous Michigan equivalent? Why, the home of an auto baron, of course — such as Meadow Brook Hall, the historic home of Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of automotive pioneer John F. Dodge and consequently one of the world’s wealthiest women.

“Downton Days” gives visitors an intimate look at life in Meadow Brook Hall while drawing comparisons and contrasts with the fictional Downton Abbey.

Shannon O’Berski, marketing and communications manager at Meadow Brook, says “‘Downton Days’ was a collaboration effort by our special events department,” inspired in part by people who had toured the estate and noted the similarities to the popular TV series. O’Berski says they’d gotten “a lot of requests” for such a program from people who had toured the estate. “It kept coming up.”

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There are many differences between the series and the estate, of course, including the setting and even the period of the estates.

“‘Downton Abbey’ is (set) about five years sooner” than the date Meadow Brook was constructed (1926-29), O’Berski says, but its English Tudor revival style was based on those of older country estates in England. And the opulent lifestyles of British aristocracy and American automobile barons were similar.

“We can’t compare apples to apples,” O’Berski says, “but there are still similarities,” such as the structure of the owner-staff relationship.

There are three parts to “Downton Days,” on different dates with separate tickets required for each.

First, “Life at the Great Estate” (noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, $45) begins with lunch in the Christopher Wren dining room, followed by “a lecture comparing daily life at Downton Abbey and Meadow Brook,” by Meadow Brook Hall curator Madelyn Rzadkowolski, and concluding with a “special tour of the servants and staff quarters.”

The next and grandest event is the “Automotive Aristocracy Gala” (7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, $125), which begins with “an elegant five-course meal with white-glove service.” A violinist will accompany the dinner, with a string quartet and dancing afterward and traditions such as the men and women going to separate rooms for cordials. The event is black-tie, but “we’re not going to throw anyone out” for improper attire.

Finally, “A Servant’s Life” (9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22; 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23; $35, which includes an MBH memento), where you will “learn how the house was run,” O’Berski says. “It’s a submersion experience,” where the head housemaid greets you as if you were applicants for jobs at the estate. At the end, the tour moves to the servants quarters where you will have tea with scones.

This is the first time Meadow Brook has hosted such an event, but it’s not its first “Downton Abbey” connection. Last Christmas, the Meadow Brook organization sold “Downton Abbey” ornaments, and last year there was an Oakland University course on “Downton Abbey” that met in the hall.